The mutual fund then passes along the profits (and losses) of those investments to its shareholders. So if a mutual fund does well, you benefit. But, they’re not risk-free. Read on to learn more about how mutual funds work.

If you’re new to investing, you might be wary of buying individual stocks. Mutual funds offer an alternative way to build your portfolio. But just what are they? Mutual funds offer a way for a group of investors to effectively pool their money so they can invest in a wider variety of investment vehicles and take advantage of professional money management through the purchase of one mutual fund share. When you buy a mutual fund share, you’re investing in stocks, bonds and other securities that are held within the fund.

Equity and fixed-income funds have subcategories which allow an investor to cast a narrow net with their investment dollars. For example, an equity fund investor might invest in a technology fund that only invests in eco-friendly technology companies. Likewise, a bond fund investor who is seeking current income might invest in a government securities fund that only invests in government securities. A so-called balanced fund is a mutual fund that owns both stocks and bonds.

A beginning investor may buy their first mutual fund to start saving for retirement, while a large investment firm might use the same mutual fund in a portfolio of funds for a major client, such as a wealthy trust client or an endowment fund used by a major university or non-profit organization. There’s no doubt that mutual funds are here to stay for many more years and decades to come. With trillions of dollars invested in mutual funds in the U.S. alone, and popularity increasing in emerging markets like India, there’s no reason to expect this versatile investment type will do anything but gain in popularity in the future.

This is work that most of us are not interested in, do not have the time for, and, most importantly, are probably not as qualified to do. By purchasing shares of a mutual fund, you’re also purchasing the money management and investment skills of the fund manager whose job it is to invest and reinvest the mutual fund’s capital based on the fund’s established goals.